military exercises

Tuesday April 16, 2013

NEWS ANALYSIS

Andrei Akulov writes in the online journal of the Strategic Culture Foundation this week about an under-analyzed component of the US interventionist foreign policy: foreign military training and assistance. According to Akulov, although attention often falls on expanded and high-profile US joint military exercises in places like South Korea, as well as increased US military involvement in Africa and more drone strikes in more parts of the world, the “training, assisting, and subsidizing armed forces of other countries is another significant aspect of US foreign policy, which is often overlooked or underestimated.” The author points out that in countries with human rights records too abysmal for overt US military assistance, the US nevertheless often finds itself employing special forces troops and trainers. The US special forces are active in approximately 70 nations on any given day.